Empowered to Connect Podcast

TOGETHER: The Adoption Triad; A Shared Redemptive Story of Love, Loss and Longing What if instead of being separated into our corners of the triad focusing on what makes us different we found ourselves drawn together through our similarities? Join us on this episode where Tona is joined by her dear friends Carissa Woodwyk and Ashley Mitchell. Together they represent the three parts of the adoption...

Have you ever had one of those 'foot in mouth' moments where you've realized you've said something wrong too late? Maybe you've held onto a particular view about a person and then found through conversation that view to be misguided? We'd all hope for the second, but we've often found ourselves in the first situation. According to our guest today, there's a simple remedy for this malady. Jacque Ro...

It's a special episode of the ETC Podcast today! A few weeks ago, one of our favorite people, Robyn Gobbel, sat down with our host JD Wilson to talk about moving from correction-based parenting to connection-based parenting for her podcast. They talked about how hard the transition can be, the letdown of realizing you're not the parent you wanted to be and how to begin again by building trust and...

Picture this: you're enjoying a beautiful day in your neighborhood park. Kids are running around having fun, adults are getting a rare moment to talk to each other - it's euphoric...and then it's time to leave. Cue the meltdown.   We all face them in life, so let's just talk about them - transitions. They might be daily, seasonal or major life transitions, but they're all capable of tripping us up...

Our guest today is a therapist, speaker, teacher, advocate and so much more - We've long admired his work on social media (@TherapyRedeemed on Instagram) and after meeting him for this conversation our respect and admiration of him has skyrocketed. Cam Lee Small takes us into the world of mental health and adoptees and how his work both counseling and advocating for adoptees has shone light on his...

We've been waiting for this one for a while - we're so excited to have the one and only Daren Jones from The Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development on the show today! If you are unfamiliar with his work, Daren is part of the team that delivers Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) training literally across the globe. From his work in a therapeutic day treatment program with children to t...

Let's talk about consequences. Spoiler alert: we want to encourage you to make consequences your last resort. You read that right, we at ETC think there are lots of other tools in the toolbelt to help you keep peace in your home and maintain connection with your kiddo and we want to talk about it today!  Becca McKay and Tona Ottinger from ETC join us as we talk about the the bigger picture of why...

Dr. Jim Henry is one of the most fascinating people you will ever meet. He is a Professor at Western Michigan University and the Program Director of the Children's Trauma Assessment Center. For over 20 years, Dr. Henry has been sitting with and hearing the stories of precious children from across the country who have survived unimaginable things.  How, then, can Dr. Henry still be doing this work?...

ANOTHER attachment episode, c'mon ETC! Isn't there more to parenting than attachment!? We're glad you asked. In today's episode, we have one of the best researchers in her field, Dr. Jamie DeLuna from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development, explain why understanding your own attachment style may be the most important thing you can do for your parenting. We talk about the neuroscience behi...

Season 2 rolls on, today with Dr. Nicole West! Dr. West is a therapist with the Memphis Family Connection Center in Memphis, TN and amongst lots of skills and certifications she holds, she is a certified Play Therapist. Dr. West joins us today to not only unpack the benefits of play therapy but also to walk us through WHY play is so important for the brain, for processing through hard things for k...

It's here! The premiere of Season 2 - and who better to help us kick it off than the one and only Mona Delahooke?? Mona is a Pediatric Psychologist and the author of  Beyond Behaviors among several other books. If you've ever read Beyond Behaviors, you know how brilliant she is! Mona joins us today to talk about the Brain - Body - Behavior connection and why it is absolutely essential for parents...

One of the most surprising things about parenting is the way we grow in the midst of trying to grow our children. Oftentimes, setting out to help them process through a trying emotional time or teach a life lesson reveals something about ourselves as well. Today on the show, Mo and Tona talk about the necessity of celebrating our children in several key ways and how they've grown in the process. T...

For most of us Summer Break is in full swing. Kids are out of school and you might be out of patience! If that's you, rest easy, you're not alone. Today we take one of the principles discussed by Dr. Karyn Purvis in last week's episode and look at why predictability is such a big deal for our kids. Some of us have major scheduling needs - we need to know what's happening at every moment. Some of u...

One of our most watched YouTube videos of all time features Dr. Karyn Purvis giving parents and caregivers some advice about how to handle manipulation and control from their kiddos. There's a reason 160,000 people have watched this video - the content is gold.  Today on the show, Tona Ottinger and JD Wilson from ETC sit down to do a deep dive on the ideas Dr. Purvis lays out in the video. How doe...

It's been a busy few weeks for us moving offices at ETC and we couldn't help but stop and think about our past and our future. Moving is funny that way - it helps us appreciate where we've been and look ahead to where we're going. If you've been listening to the show from the beginning, chances are, you know ETC's history - but for those of you who don't, we take the first few minutes of the show...

After a short break to get moved into our new office space here in Memphis, we are BACK this week! With Father's Day coming up this week, we thought we would share some reflections on what it's looked like to parent in a connected way from a Dad's point of view. JD Wilson and Mo Ottinger from ETC talk about some of the biggest things they've learned and stereotypes that had to be busted along the...

As we finish moving into our new space, we wanted to hit you with one more throwback episode. We'll be jumping back in with a brand new episode which will air NEXT WEEK! We felt it appropriate to bring back our good friend Carissa Woodwyk talking about what to do when 'self care' doesn't cut it... Self care is a hot topic these days - in fact, it's been a topic of conversation on our show several...

Today we bring you a throwback episode! Our whole ETC team is in the process of packing up to move into an amazing new space (that we can't wait to show you) here in Memphis, Tennessee, so we thought it'd be helpful to re-share one of our favorite episodes in case you missed it. One of our favorite humans, Robyn Gobbel, joined us a few months back to talk about a blog post she wrote entitled "Self...

Our Family Spotlight Series continues this week with ETC Parent Trainers Matthew and Anteelah Love! Matthew and Anteelah both work in education and have the unique viewpoints of having fostered, adopted and had biological kids.  They share personal testimony on how shifting their paradigm has not only impacted their nuclear family but also the perspective of their close community.   Listen in for...

Today we start a new series on the ETC Podcast that we're calling our 'Family Spotlights' series! We'll talk to parents on the connected parenting journey and hear what they've learned, what they wish they'd known and any advice they've got for others on this journey! Today we start off with two of our favorite people on earth, Dan and Terri Coley! You may know Dan and Terri from their time hostin...

Last week Amanda Purvis introduced us to the brain, body and behavior connection. This week, OT Mistie Hanks joins us as we take a deeper dive into why understanding sensory processing is an absolute game changer! Mistie walks us through everything from understanding ours and our kids' sensory systems to some practical ways you can support growth in these areas. We also take a look at how trauma a...

Have you ever experienced behavior from your child that doesn't make any sense? Yeah, neither have we...but for everyone ELSE out there who has experienced perplexing behavior or tried to figure out why the same 'willfully disobedient' actions keep on happening - this episode is for you.  An immense amount of research has been published showing the connection between the body, the brain and behavi...

Dr. Michele Borba is an Educational Psychologist who has spent the last 4 decades studying resilience. In her latest book, "Thrivers", she shares the results of compiling years of resilience research from across the globe - resilience is built, not born. In the midst of so much stress, uncertainty and unplanned disruption to our everyday lives, we couldn't think of a better time to have Michele on...

Are you struggling with challenging behaviors from your kiddos? The late Dr. Karyn Purvis developed the 'IDEAL Response' as an acronym to help parents remember how to connect with your kids while correcting inappropriate behavior. In today's episode, Mo and Tona Ottinger join JD to take a deeper dive into the IDEAL Response and break down each component of the principle. The episode starts with au...

If you attended Show Hope's 'Hope for the Journey' Conference, you were introduced to Dan and Terri Coley. Longtime friends of Empowered to Connect, Dan and Terri have built a legacy of parenting wisdom and mentorship in the connected parenting world. Episode 5 of the ETC Podcast featured Dan, Mo Ottinger and our host, JD Wilson talking about the power of being present and it still today is one of...